Obama, Clinton Most Admired Again: Poll

Clinton named "most admired" for 17th time

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President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are Americans' most admired man and woman, respectively, according to a new Gallup poll.

Admiration abounds for President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The duo are Americans' most admired man and woman — again — in a Gallup poll.

This is the 11th straight year that Clinton has been the most admired woman, while Obama has topped the list of the most admired men five years in a row.

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First Lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were next in line behind Clinton on the list of women.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela, Obama's recent Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney, evangelist Billy Graham, former President George W. Bush and Pope Benedict XVI followed Obama on the list of men.

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Clinton has topped the list of the most admired women more than any other woman in the history of Gallup's poll — 17 times going back to her first year as first lady in 1993. She finished second to Mother Teresa in 1995 and 1996 and second to Laura Bush in 2001.

President Dwight Eisenhower ranked the most admired man 12 times, a Gallup record for men, followed by former presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, with eight first-place finishes each.

The USA Today/Gallup poll was conducted from Dec. 19 to 22. The "most admired" question was open-ended, asking Americans to name, without prompting, the man and the woman they most admired living in any part of the world.

Gallup first asked Americans to name their most admired man in 1946 and added the ranking of women two years later.